The designation of June 14 as "Flag Birthday" or "Flag Day" seems to have begun in the late 1800's with celebrations beginning in elementary schools and spreading quickly to major municipalities. It was a way to celebrate the flag and its underlying meanings. It was a way to encourage the endurance of the attitudes and values that had given rise to the ideals of freedom as real possibilities. It was also a way to honor and acknowledge the many personal sacrifices that had served to create and sustain the institutions of freedom that build on the dignity of the person rather than the attractions of power.

These grass roots celebrations of appreciation for the values of the flag went on for about thirty years before the beginning of official national recognition. "Flag Day" was officially established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 as the anniversary of the June 14, 1777 Flag Resolution of the Continental Congress; and in 1949 President Truman signed an act of Congress that established June 14 as an annual day of national celebration of the ideals of our "Stars and Stripes."

Flag Day 2013 arrives now at a time when our journey of American history will soon mark 237 years. From this writer's perspective, it has been an amazing journey of exploration and discovery in the context of a social experiment that remains, in the scheme of things, as bold and audacious now as it did in the late 1700's. It is an experiment based on the proposition that the essential elements of a free and successful society are invisible. They reside in the hearts, minds and values of its members. They revolve around the conviction that the autonomous dignity of the person must be at the root of all personal and social transactions. Social institutions can thus be legitimate only when they derive their role and their actions from the perspective of service and recognize that their very existence derives only from the consent of those whom they serve. "Authority" is most legitimate when it serves to be a link in the "authoring" of life, meaning and autonomous dignity.

These ideas derive from the ideals our flag represents. Chief among these is the notion that it is the role of the Creator to confer rights, and it is the role of the state or social institutions to recognize, honor and protect those rights. Relative to other kinds of "social constructions" that have spread around the globe this idea is really "out there." It does not view social institutions and governments as places of power deriving influence from the distribution of goods. It does view government as a bridge toward personally authentic power deriving influence from the support of personal initiatives that redound to the benefit of all.

This of course means that a person who belongs to and lives in a free society must take on the job of being personally ethical and responsible. Someone once said that "he who will not govern himself will most surely be governed by others." A person whose actions infringe on or erode the worth and dignity of another is in the process of eroding and eventually losing his or her own power. Unfortunately, such actions also erode the foundations of a free society and make it more vulnerable to governments of power rather than of service. Sort of like a stone that lands in the water and makes ripples or waves all across the surface, each of our choices and behaviors has an effect at some point in time, near or far, that touches all in some visible or invisible way.

It is a great blessing that we can once again celebrate our National Flag Day. We honor the flag not just in itself, for it is only a combination of cloth and color. We honor it because it is a symbol of invisible spiritual ideals; ideals of unassailable personal worth and a common commitment to creativity, personal initiative and generosity. These are bright ideals, and we often fall short. But with God's help, and with honest respectful conversation and debate, we continue our efforts to create ever more consistent and visible expressions of these invisible truths.

Coeur d'Alene in the summer is truly wonderful. As our many summer events continue (today with Car d'Alene) it is good to remember that all this is possible because of a set of ideas; ideas about the right relationship between Creator and creature; ideas about human nature; and ideas about how to construct a free society. Ideas do indeed have consequences. Elections follow ideas and do indeed also have consequences, and the best elections derive from an educated and fully participating electorate.

Our national flag day celebrations began in the context of education. English essayist Joseph Addison once commented that "What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul." To take the time and energy to sculpt our minds and hearts in the ideals of liberty, to always vote and to vote accordingly, is a great way to honor and promote the ideals of the flag.